Bob Paduchik, who ran George W. Bush's two successful presidential efforts in Ohio, will serve as state director for the presumptive GOP nominee. Paduchik had worked for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s campaign during the 2016 primary.

The hire comes more than a month after Democrat Hillary Clinton set up her campaign staff in Ohio. Clinton has jumped out to a head start in Ohio, visiting the state twice in the last two weeks, planning a trip to Cincinnati next week, and fundraising and running commercials in the swing state.

Trump's delay in organizing a campaign in Ohio stems in part from the reticence of many top operatives to back the controversial billionaire. Most Ohio Republican politicos backed Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who ran against Trump for the Republican nomination and has yet to endorse him.

“Mr. Trump ran a great campaign, and he won,” Paduchik said. “I’ve been a Republican all my life. I’m happy to support Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee."

Paduchik, 49, said he doesn't feel the campaign is behind schedule, based on his experience in 2000 and 2004 on the Bush campaign.

"Mr. Trump has a great team here, and he'll build on that for the general election," Paduchik said. "It happens in every campaign – building up and marking a shift from the primary to the general. There's plenty of time to do what we need to do here to put Ohio in the win column."

Robert Scott, the Dayton attorney and tea party leader who ran Trump's Ohio primary efforts, remains with the Trump campaign.

Before taking the Trump job, Paduchik worked as president of Agincourt Consultants, a lobbying and political consulting firm he founded in Westerville. He's a former top staffer at the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. Paduchik also ran Sen. Rob Portman's 2010 campaign, a connection which should help the Trump campaign to coordinate with the Republican's re-election efforts.

His hire was facilitated in part by Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges. Faced with a lack of campaign infrastructure in key states around the country, Trump told Borges he'd set up his Ohio campaign however Borges thought he should.

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Campaign efforts in Ohio have top importance: No Republican has won the White House without winning Ohio. And while Trump lost the Ohio primary to Kasich, Paduchik said he doesn't see an issue with Republican voters in the state backing Trump. "Ohio has always been a tight state, within a couple of points," he said.

A Quinnipiac University Poll released earlier this week showed Clinton and Trump in a dead heat. Both would receive about 40 percent of the vote, according to the most recent poll, which comes one month after polling showed Trump had a slight edge over Clinton in the Buckeye State.

While Trump plans to spend several days next month in Cleveland for the Republican convention, his most recent stop in the state came in the lead-up to its March 15 GOP primary. Paduchik said he'd had conversations Thursday about bringing Trump to Ohio, but nothing concrete has been planned yet.